The present invention relates to drill sleeves that protect soft tissues during orthopedic drilling procedures.
During orthopedic procedures, when using drills to make bores in bones for internal fixation of fractured bones, overlying soft tissue may become entangled in drill bits rotated by the drills. For procedures that require drilling bores entirely through the bones, the drill bits may plunge through the back sides of the bones and into the soft tissue beyond the bone which may damage neurovascular structures and/or other soft tissue. Regardless, after drilling bores in bones, the depths of the bores need to be measured so that proper length fasteners can be selected for use in the drilled bores. Measuring bore depth is typically done with a depth gauge that requires an additional step after drilling. While measuring a bore that extends entirely through a bone, a hook of the depth gauge may be pushed beyond the backside of the bone so that the hook can be pulled back into engagement with the backside of the bone to measure the bore. Soft tissue beyond the backside of the bone can be contacted by the hook when it is pushed beyond the backside of the bone. After measuring, the hook may again be pushed beyond the backside of the bone to release the engagement between the hook and the backside of the bone to allow withdrawal of the hook through the bore and at which point the soft tissue beyond the back side of the bone may again be contacted with the hook of the depth gauge.
To address these issues, various devices have been utilized. Drill sleeves having rigid tubes through which the drill bits pass allow the drill bit to be delivered to the bone without directly contacting the soft tissue at the entry side of the bone at which the bore is initiated. Specialized drill bits and matched specialized drill sleeves are available that have corresponding markings for showing how far the drill bits have advanced relative to the drill sleeves. Specialized complex drills are available and can include clutching mechanisms that disengage rotating drives under conditions of reduced torque and others which allow for incremental advancing of the drill bits to predetermined distances.